IOCC's new fresh food initiative gives Greece's most vulnerable families the opportunity to purchase locally sourced fruits, vegetables and milk at supermarkets using a fresh food card. The program is also helping to sustain 500 Greek farming families who are providing the fresh produce and milk being offered to the program participants. (Photo credit: Despina Katsivelaki/IOCC)

Admitting that he needs help isn't easy for Nick, an unemployed construction worker from a modest neighborhood in Athens. The unemployment benefits he received for one year have stopped. His wife is also out of work, and their family savings have been drained. Nick's situation is all too common among the working class in Greece where unemployment is nearly 28 percent and the jobless rate for construction workers has surpassed 50 percent. Hard-working people who never relied on social services must now seek out basic necessities for their families. Nick's family rely on dry food parcels provided by IOCC and relief partner, Apostoli, the humanitarian arm of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Athens, to help them from going hungry.

A new program offers fresh hope for Greece's struggling families. Beginning this fall, more than 5,500 people will have access to fresh food to supplement dry food parcels. Selected families will receive fresh food cards that they can use to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and milk at participating supermarkets. The fresh food items will be sourced locally, helping to sustain 500 farming families across the country and in turn, benefit the Greek economy. The fresh food initiative, initially funded by the Hellenic Initiative and private donors, has also received support from The Jaharis Family Foundation. Contributions made to IOCC to support hunger relief efforts and other aid to Greece will be matched by the Foundation up to one million dollars.